The Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation is conducting a study on the topical subject of peer-reviewed publishing, and the contribution of your thoughts and experience will be of the upmost value. This research is being undertaken as part of my enrolment in the Master of Cultural Materials Conservation at the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation (University of Melbourne). The supervising researcher for this project is A/Prof Robyn Sloggett. The project has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee (reference number 1339714.1).

The aim of this project is to investigate conservators’ experiences of the current environment of peer-reviewed publishing in the field of cultural materials conservation, looking at the following key questions:

• What value do conservators place on the communication of their research? (i.e. publication in peer reviewed journals, publication in organisation/ institution newsletters, publication in conference proceedings, participation in conferences and workshops etc.) • What are the obstacles and incentives of publishing?• What do conservators see as the benefits of publication to themselves and the field?• How the interdisciplinary nature of the field impacts on the way in which research is communicated and accessed by conservators?

You are invited to participate in this project by completing a biref questionnaire (approximately 15 minutes) available at the followin